In its recent TechEd conference held in Orlando, Florida last June 4, Microsoft announced that they are already in the process of expanding access to their cloud-based application lifecycle management service, even though the app itself is still in preview mode. According to the company, anyone can utilize its Team Foundation Service ALM server, which…
Apple has recently announced that their top end MacBook Pro will no longer come with a hard drive, as the new ones will only contain much faster SSD or Solid State Drives. The announcement heralds one of the most important shifts in the industry trend towards SSD-only systems using cloud-based storage devices. Of course, it’s…
One of the main criticisms being levied at Cloud computing is its inherent security flaws. After all, the whole concept of cloud computing introduces possible security risks that are not present in conventional IT setups. However, a growing number of technologists are making the argument that clouds, contrary to popular belief, are actually more secure…
These past few years, a number of enterprises have already made the jump to cloud computing, and are now focused on managing the cloud and maximizing business value out of the services. As the IT field moves past the theoretical phase and entered management and implementation, enterprises who have made the jump to cloud are…
Facebook’s gigantic userbase, which is made up of 901 million users, requires an equally huge number of servers, datacenters and assorted storage and networking gear. Such large needs is expected of a company that has enough clout to go toe to toe with Google. However, unlike Google, Facebook has not relied on their own hardware…
According to the International Working Group on Cloud Computing Resiliency, at least 10 hours yearly has been lost due to cloud services outages. According to the report, downtime is at least 500 hours since 2007 from 13 of the largest cloud computing providers. The number of hours was translated to at least $70 million. The…
A lot of people are focusing on the security issues of cloud computing that’s why they fail to see the probable energy savings it offers. Companies go to the clouds because they want to increase profits by lowering their expenses. However, they fail to see that cloud computing has environmental benefits also. In fact, cloud…
KPMG has created an online resource regarding taxing of cloud computing services by tax authorities in various countries. Called as Country Perspective on Taxing the Cloud, the online resource aims to aid providers and users of cloud services in planning their activities and operations as well as work in order gain tax benefits from the…
SPEC (Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation) plans to use its testing methodology to benchmark cloud deployments. The company is well known in the industry because of its benchmarks on computer systems. It maintains and develops benchmarks which are standardized to evaluate enterprise computing systems. A not-for-profit organization, SPEC recently formed a working group to create standards…
Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, together with Rackspace Hosting, are staging a price war for their services. Amazon started implementing its cloud support plans changes in response to the price slash Microsoft and Rackspace are instituting for their services. Being a leader in Infrastructure-as-a-Service offerings, Amazon holds around 80% of the whole market while Rackspace…